Toy hemisphere with music box therein



Feb. 5, 1957 A. A. ANTHONY 2,730,029

TOY HEMISPHERE WITH MUSIC BOX THEREIN Filed April 4, 1955 INVENTOR. WM v. QMM

/ A T TORNE Y5 United States Patent() TOY HEMISPHERE WITH MUSIC BOX THEREIN Alfred A. Anthony, Westport, Conn.

Application April 4, 1955, Serial No. 499,002

2 Claims. (Cl. 46-411) This invention relates to musical toys and more especially to a toy having a spring-operated music box con tained in a shell from which a shaft of the music box extends and is connected to another element of the toy to produce relative movement of the shell and the other element of the toy by the same spring power which operates the music box. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the toy is a ball which rolls on the floor, or other supporting surface, along irregular and amusing courses as the music box plays.

It is an object of the invention to provide a musical toy having a spring-operated music box therein and having elements of the toy which are rotated one Way with respect to each other to wind the spring and in which the operation of the spring to play the music box rotates the elements of the toy with respect to one another to produce various combinations of motion of the toy on a supporting surface.

In accordance with one feature of the invention, the shaft of the music box is employed as the element for holding the relatively movable parts of the toy in assembled relation with one another, and the surfaces of the different parts of the toy are oriented with respect to the shaft to permit relative rotation about the axis of the shaft.

Another feature of the invention relates to the construction of the toy with the different elements of the toy forming a ball having the music box and motor located so that their center of gravity causes the ball to have a position of equilibrium in which the axis of the winding shaft of the motor is at an acute angle to a horizontal surface on which the ball rests. This causes the ball to roll along a curved path of variable radius of curvature as the music box plays and the spring unwinds.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views;

Figure l is a side elevation of a ball embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view through the ball shown in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is an exploded view of the ball shown in the other figures.

Figure 1 shows a ball formed with two shells 11 and 12. in the construction shown, each of the shells 11 and 12 is a hemisphere. One of the shells has a rim 13 extending over the edge of the other shell to cover the seam between the confronting end faces of the shells when they are in assembled relation.

Figure 2 shows the inside construction of the shells 11 and 12. The shell 11 has a plate 15 extending across it near the open end of the shell. For purposes of economy and reduction in weight, the plate 15 is merely a strut extending along a diameter of a plane which intersects the ice sphere at right angles to a radial line 16 at the center of the ball in the plane defined by the end face 17 of the shell 11. v

There is a similar plate 20 extending across the shell 12 and this plate 20 is preferably also a strut and in a similar position on the shell 12 as is the strut 15 on the shell 11.

A music box 25 is located Within the shell 11 and is attached to the plate 15 on the side opposite the plate 20. The music box 25 includes a spring 27 and mechanism 28 operated by the spring for driving the musical elements which are indicated generally by the reference character 30. This construction is merely representative of music boxes operated by a spring motor. The music box 25 has a shaft 33 which extends through an opening in the plate 15 and beyond the plane of the end face 17 of the shell 11. The shaft 33 extends far enough into the shell 12 to fit into an opening in the plate 20.

The shaft 33 preferably has a shoulder 35, and the shaft is threaded beyond this shoulder. The threaded end of the shaft 33 screws into the opening in the plate 20; and preferably screws into the plate until the shoulder 35 comes into contact with the outside face of the plate 20.

The shoulder 35 is located in such a position, with respect to the plates 15 and 20, that the end face 17 of the shell 11 has a running clearance with respect to a corresponding end face 37 of the shell 12 when the shoulder 35 is in firm contact with the front face of the plate 20. Thus, the shaft 33 holds the shells 11 and 12 in assembled relation and at the proper spacing from one another to permit relative rotation of the shells by the spring motor of the music box 25 The music box 25 is constructed so that the shaft 33 is the winding shaft for the spring motor; and the motor is one in which the shaft 33 rotates in the opposite direction as the spring 27 of the music box motor unwinds when the motor is running to operate the music box.

Figure 2 also shows the rim 13 which is attached to the shell 12. This rim covers the seam between the confronting faces 17 and 37 and preferably has a slight clearance from the outside surface of the shell 11 so as not to cause friction when the shells 11 and 12 are rotating with respect to one another. The rim 13 is made of thin sheet material so that the ball 10 can roll in any direction without undue interference by the elevation on its surface produced by the rim 13.

The rim 13 preferably touches the surface on which the ball rests, and the relative movement of the rim 13 and the shell 11, with both touching the floor, starts the movement of the ball. The rim 13 also serves the additional purpose of preventing dirt from getting inside the shells 11 and 12. This rim 13 sometimes touches the shell 11 around portions of its circumference, but the pressure is light and produces relatively little friction. The toy can be made without the rim 13, if desired. If so made, the shells 11 and 12, with their plates 15 and 219, can be of identical construction for economy in manufacture. Without the rim 13, the only operations which have to be performed on the interchangeable shells, to adapt them for assembly in the toy, are the provision of the threaded opening in the plate 20 and the connecting of the music box 25 to the plate 15 with an opening large enough for the shaft 33 to extend through it.

The invention has been illustrated as applied to a ball in which the surface of the ball is formed by hemispherical elements. it will be understood, however, that the shells 11 and 12 do not have to 'be of the same size and one of them could form more than half of the surface of the ball. For the manufacturing process by which this invention is intended to be made, the use of hemispherical shells is the most economical, but the invention is not to be limited to this construction.

It is not necessary that the toy be spherical. The

that the toy will roll more irregularly than a sphere.

In the preferred construction, which has a spherical surface, the toy is made to roll along irregular and changing courses by having the music box 25 located on a diameter of the sphere at a position which is at a substantial distance from the surface of the sphere and eccentric of the center of the sphere. if the music box were attachedv directly to the inside wall of the shell 11, the sphere would tend to assume a position of equilibrium with the music box at the bottom of the sphere in a manner 5 nilar to the way in which a rely-poly orients itself with the weight at the bottom. This would leave the shaft 33, which extends from the music box 25 through the center of the sphere, in a vertical position so that the shell 12 would merely rotate around the vertical axis of the shaft 33 and the toy would not roll on its supporting surface. The invention can be made in that way, if desired, and in such a case it is a stationary toy unless it is unbalanced intentionally.

With the music box 25 located as illustrated in Figure 2, the toy assumes a position of equilibrium with the axis of the shaft 33 extending along the radial line 16 and at a substantial acute angle to the vertical. As the music box 25 operates, it produces relative rotation of the shells 11 and 12. in practice, the reaction produced by this driving force causes the shell 11 to roll on a horizontal surface along a curved path which undergoes alternating progressive changes from shorter to longer radius of curvature. These changes in the direction of movement are unexpected and amusing to the spectators.

The course along which the ball rolls can be made even more irregular and surprising by making the shells 11 and 12 so that they are not symmetrical about the normal diameter 16.

Figure 3 shows a construction which is similar in all respects to Figure 2 except that the shells, indicated by the reference characters 11' and 12, are made with weights 40 on their inside surfaces for producing different degrees of unbalance of the sphere. These weights 4% are preferably regions of greater wall thickness formed during the molding of the shells.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A musical toy comprising a ball, two different elements having outside surfaces which co-operate with one another to form the surface of the ball, at least one of the elements being a hollow shell, a music box within the hollow shell and connected to that element of the ball, a shaft extend ng from the music box into the other element of the ball and connected to said other element for rotation as a unit therewith, the elements of the ball being held in assembled relation by said shaft but with running clearance between them so that they rotatable with respect to one another about the longitudinal axis of said shaft, and a spring motor for the music box with mechanism connecting the motor to the shaft, said mechanism operating to wind the spring when the elements of the ball are turned in opposite directions with respect to one another, and said mechanism operating to rotate the elements of the ball in the other direction with respect to one another when the spring motor operates the music box.

2. The musical toy described in claim 1 and in which the shaft extends along a diameter of the ball and the music box is located on said diameter at a substantial distance from the surface of the ball but with its center of gravity eccentric of the center of the ball so that the position of equilibrium of the ball on a plane supporting surface, when the spring motor is not running, is one in which said diameter extends at an acute angle to the plane surface.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l83,549 Dunham Oct. 24, 1876 676,297 Balding et al June 11, 1901 1,660,252 Buttigieg Feb. 21, 1928 1,789,333 Da Costa Jan. 20, 1931 2,252,290 Koniltoff Aug. 12, 1941 2,504,650 Chessrown Apr. 18, 1950 2,657,607 Katz et al. Nov. 3, 1953 

